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Lessons

LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The grantee in Georgia did undertake a good internal monitoring effort to track progress of project indicators, but these indicators primarily tracked outputs. This project might have had more significant but these were invisible to the evaluators. Most of the information on higher level outcomes was anecdotal and without more data, it was not possible to evaluate to which extent results were achieved.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Grassroots Gender Accountability in Uganda

Although written in English, Village Budget Club members found the budget monitoring and service tracking manual easy to use, because (i) English-speaking training facilitators were recruited from within the local community to address possible language and literacy issues; and (ii) at trainee stage, monitors teamed up in pairs comprising of one English speaker, thus enabling easy reference to the manual as and when needed
Project Partner
Forum for Women in Democracy
Project Description
The project worked to help women district councillors acquire knowledge and to push the equality agenda with policy makers. The project’s advocacy activities led to improved gender-sensitive service delivery, as the local government budgeted for enhanced services for women and girls. In September 2016, two years after the end of the project, the Government announced that gender sensitive indicators will be used to ensure that all sectors adhere to gender equality in decision making and service delivery in the country.. Visibly empowered district and sub-county councillors expressed with pride their new influence on the gender-sensitive application of laws, policies and local budgets. Former women MP trainees proudly cooperated across party lines on priority issues of the Ugandan women in parliamentary committees. The approach of putting in place a monitoring system that was run by Village Budget Clubs (VBCs) and district councillors alike was appropriate. The project’s training methodology ensured the transfer of necessary skills such as gender-sensitive analysis, budgeting, caucusing, lobbying and advocacy.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Freedom of Information Activism at the Local Level in Brazil

The project made good use of the focal points in each municipality. They developed contacts and worked with municipal governments, public prosecutors’ offices, tax courts, educational centers, and civil society groups, giving birth to a widespread movement to fight corruption and the adoption of a wide range of citizen oversight activities. The most impressive experiences were observed in Mandaguari-PR, (ADAMA) and Fortaleza-CE (ACECCI). For example in Mandaguari-PR, the focal point helped create a standing civil society committee to monitor public procurement.
Project Partner
ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
Project Description
The aim of the project was to promote the development of a more inclusive and equal society through promoting the free flow of information to the general public so that individuals, civil servants and civil society groups acting at the local level can hold their government to account, advocate for their rights and entitlements more effectively and influence policy-making processes. Specifically the project set out to foster local activism on freedom of information and to use access to information and transparency tools to strengthen participation within municipal governments across Brazil. The project strategy was built around four specific components: a strengthened and effective network of local activists working on access to information; increased public understanding of the importance of freedom of information and how to use the concept to encourage transparency and accountability; increased public demand for governments’ responsiveness to information requests at the local level; legislative and policy reform initiatives to promote transparency at the local level. The project was highly relevant since the Access to Public Information Act had recently come into effect. This Act required each municipality to draft regulations ensuring its proper enforcement. Yet surveys had indicated a lack of interest and knowledge in many municipalities about enforcing this law.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Freedom of Information Activism at the Local Level in Brazil

One of the major problems the project encountered was in setting up and running the Citizens’ Help Center website so that it could serve as a platform for exchange among the focal points. The grantee sub contracted this work and the contractor failed to complete the work. While the website became operational, it was not clear how it would be updated and maintained.
Project Partner
ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
Project Description
The aim of the project was to promote the development of a more inclusive and equal society through promoting the free flow of information to the general public so that individuals, civil servants and civil society groups acting at the local level can hold their government to account, advocate for their rights and entitlements more effectively and influence policy-making processes. Specifically the project set out to foster local activism on freedom of information and to use access to information and transparency tools to strengthen participation within municipal governments across Brazil. The project strategy was built around four specific components: a strengthened and effective network of local activists working on access to information; increased public understanding of the importance of freedom of information and how to use the concept to encourage transparency and accountability; increased public demand for governments’ responsiveness to information requests at the local level; legislative and policy reform initiatives to promote transparency at the local level. The project was highly relevant since the Access to Public Information Act had recently come into effect. This Act required each municipality to draft regulations ensuring its proper enforcement. Yet surveys had indicated a lack of interest and knowledge in many municipalities about enforcing this law.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Promoting Freedom of Information Activism at the Local Level in Brazil

One of the major problems the project encountered was in setting up and running the Citizens’ Help Center website so that it could serve as a platform for exchange among the focal points. The grantee sub contracted this work and the contractor failed to complete the work.
Project Partner
ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
Project Description
The aim of the project was to promote the development of a more inclusive and equal society through promoting the free flow of information to the general public so that individuals, civil servants and civil society groups acting at the local level can hold their government to account, advocate for their rights and entitlements more effectively and influence policy-making processes. Specifically the project set out to foster local activism on freedom of information and to use access to information and transparency tools to strengthen participation within municipal governments across Brazil. The project strategy was built around four specific components: a strengthened and effective network of local activists working on access to information; increased public understanding of the importance of freedom of information and how to use the concept to encourage transparency and accountability; increased public demand for governments’ responsiveness to information requests at the local level; legislative and policy reform initiatives to promote transparency at the local level. The project was highly relevant since the Access to Public Information Act had recently come into effect. This Act required each municipality to draft regulations ensuring its proper enforcement. Yet surveys had indicated a lack of interest and knowledge in many municipalities about enforcing this law.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Grassroots Gender Accountability in Uganda

Investigative journalism was intended to critically review shortcomings discovered by VBCs throughout the project’s target districts; TV and radio shows were meant to overcome the lack of interfaces between the local population and duty bearers and to serve as a strategy for increased accountability. Furthermore, NGOs are still inviting the grantee’s Kibaale field officer to radio shows to share the approach and achievements of the monitoring work with a wider audience. One particular radio station has even offered free airtime. There is hence relevant impact towards transparent, gender-responsive local service provision in the form of vivid online readership discussion and comments in relation to the project’s investigative journalism outputs.
Project Partner
Forum for Women in Democracy
Project Description
The project worked to help women district councillors acquire knowledge and to push the equality agenda with policy makers. The project’s advocacy activities led to improved gender-sensitive service delivery, as the local government budgeted for enhanced services for women and girls. In September 2016, two years after the end of the project, the Government announced that gender sensitive indicators will be used to ensure that all sectors adhere to gender equality in decision making and service delivery in the country.. Visibly empowered district and sub-county councillors expressed with pride their new influence on the gender-sensitive application of laws, policies and local budgets. Former women MP trainees proudly cooperated across party lines on priority issues of the Ugandan women in parliamentary committees. The approach of putting in place a monitoring system that was run by Village Budget Clubs (VBCs) and district councillors alike was appropriate. The project’s training methodology ensured the transfer of necessary skills such as gender-sensitive analysis, budgeting, caucusing, lobbying and advocacy.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Grassroots Gender Accountability in Uganda

The fact that budgeting is usually based on annual cycles always comes to play when new service needs are discovered. Village Budget Clubs in at least 3 of the 4 target districts as a result of their local service monitoring activity had launched initiatives to fund identified service needs privately, should they face limited availability or flexibility of public financing.
Project Partner
Forum for Women in Democracy
Project Description
The project worked to help women district councillors acquire knowledge and to push the equality agenda with policy makers. The project’s advocacy activities led to improved gender-sensitive service delivery, as the local government budgeted for enhanced services for women and girls. In September 2016, two years after the end of the project, the Government announced that gender sensitive indicators will be used to ensure that all sectors adhere to gender equality in decision making and service delivery in the country.. Visibly empowered district and sub-county councillors expressed with pride their new influence on the gender-sensitive application of laws, policies and local budgets. Former women MP trainees proudly cooperated across party lines on priority issues of the Ugandan women in parliamentary committees. The approach of putting in place a monitoring system that was run by Village Budget Clubs (VBCs) and district councillors alike was appropriate. The project’s training methodology ensured the transfer of necessary skills such as gender-sensitive analysis, budgeting, caucusing, lobbying and advocacy.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Grassroots Gender Accountability in Uganda

All Village Budget Clubs and caucuses of women councillors from the districts of Gulu, Kibaale and Kibuku, continue to use the monitoring approach to jointly identify and address gender-specific local service needs. There are individual cases, in which Village Budget Clubs (VBC) have shared their knowledge with neighbouring counties, whose representatives visited to observe VBC members during the conduct of service monitoring assignments.
Project Partner
Forum for Women in Democracy
Project Description
The project worked to help women district councillors acquire knowledge and to push the equality agenda with policy makers. The project’s advocacy activities led to improved gender-sensitive service delivery, as the local government budgeted for enhanced services for women and girls. In September 2016, two years after the end of the project, the Government announced that gender sensitive indicators will be used to ensure that all sectors adhere to gender equality in decision making and service delivery in the country.. Visibly empowered district and sub-county councillors expressed with pride their new influence on the gender-sensitive application of laws, policies and local budgets. Former women MP trainees proudly cooperated across party lines on priority issues of the Ugandan women in parliamentary committees. The approach of putting in place a monitoring system that was run by Village Budget Clubs (VBCs) and district councillors alike was appropriate. The project’s training methodology ensured the transfer of necessary skills such as gender-sensitive analysis, budgeting, caucusing, lobbying and advocacy.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Grassroots Gender Accountability in Uganda

Due to a lack of pertinent target indicator data the grantee fails to establish the extent to which district budget resources allocated to gender-specific projects have been increased. The grantee also failed to present data to demonstrate how media involvement increased grassroots’ ability to challenge the current state of local service budgeting and delivery.
Project Partner
Forum for Women in Democracy
Project Description
The project worked to help women district councillors acquire knowledge and to push the equality agenda with policy makers. The project’s advocacy activities led to improved gender-sensitive service delivery, as the local government budgeted for enhanced services for women and girls. In September 2016, two years after the end of the project, the Government announced that gender sensitive indicators will be used to ensure that all sectors adhere to gender equality in decision making and service delivery in the country.. Visibly empowered district and sub-county councillors expressed with pride their new influence on the gender-sensitive application of laws, policies and local budgets. Former women MP trainees proudly cooperated across party lines on priority issues of the Ugandan women in parliamentary committees. The approach of putting in place a monitoring system that was run by Village Budget Clubs (VBCs) and district councillors alike was appropriate. The project’s training methodology ensured the transfer of necessary skills such as gender-sensitive analysis, budgeting, caucusing, lobbying and advocacy.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Country
LESSON

Lesson Learned: Citizen Journalists for Free and Fair Elections in Georgia

The project itself was focused on the Georgia parliamentary elections event and the structures created were not used for the remainder of the electoral cycle, notably the 2013 presidential election which was held within the life of this project, and the upcoming 2014 local elections.
Project Partner
Civic Development Institute
Project Description
The project’s objective was to promote free and fair elections in Georgia. The project aimed to reduce electoral fraud and increase trust in the election results by involving citizens in monitoring and reporting on elections in cooperation with professional journalists. The citizen journalists, who included media professionals, NGO members and political party representatives, received training and some technical resources, including a memory stick and the grantee’s contact information. They were then left alone to report to the grantee about problems they have witnessed. The intervention was directly relevant to the need to strengthen the integrity of the electoral process and ensure the dissemination of objective information. Georgia lacked a tradition of citizen engagement or peaceful transfer of power through the ballot box. A financial incentive was used by the grantee, paying USD 40 for each verified report.
Evaluation Date
April 2014
Theme
Country